A hero and a soldier
by Doing my best
Summary: You can't sleep? Let me tell you a bedtime story. A story about a hero and a soldier. A story about how the world changed... (One-shot. IW spoilers!)


**Just a little story I decided to write after watching the Infinity War (so spoilers, obviously). It was actually supposed to be a picture, but I'm a little better with words than I am with a pencil, so here it is. I hope you'll like it, please let me know. Enjoy!**  
 **PS. I don't own Marvel. Sadly.**  
 **PS2. Sorry for all the mistakes. I'm still learning English, so even with my friend's help this story is surely far from perfect. But I'm doing my best ;)**

 _Hey, why aren't you sleeping? It's so late…_

 _...You want me to tell you a story? Alright, I'll tell you one. I'll tell you a story about the time of true heroes._

A long time ago there lived two little boys. They were brothersin anything but blood. They cared for each other and helped one another despite being very young. And because their lives were never easy they'd always have each other's back.

When they grew older, a terrible war came and started destroying the world. One of them decided to join the military and defend his country. The other wanted to fight as well, but he was small and weak. Nonetheless, his heart was bigger than other people's hearts and his courage and kindness outshined everyone else's. A wise scientist saw his greatness and gave him power and strength, so the boy could become a real hero and save his country. During one of his missions against the enemy, he found his imprisoned brother and they became inseparable again. They fought side by side and together they were so much stronger than alone. They shared the joy of victories and sadness of defeats and they always supported each other. With their companions, they changed the course of the war. But one horrible day the fate turned against them. On that day, despite the victory, they lost more than they gained. One of the brothers had been defeated. The hero did his best to save him, but he was forced to watch his best friend fall down into the abyss to a certain death.

 _Shhh… I know it's sad. But don't cry, it's not the end of the story yet._

The hero mourned his fallen brother and came back to fighting. With his comrades, they won many battles and save countless people. And in the hardest battle, the one to decide the outcome of the war, the hero sacrificed himself to save everyone else. To destroy the incredibly powerful weapon of the enemy, he sank it in the sea – even though he knew he would drown with it. He was ready to do anything to save the world.

But the hero didn't die! Thanks to his great powers, which were the reflection of his great heart, he managed to survive being frozen in the ice for many years. When he was found and woken up, he was all alone in a strange new world. But fortunately, he met some good people, who became his friends for better and worse. Together they decided to defend Earth from any possible threat. They called themselves the Avengers and combining their powers, they were saving as many as they could. But that's a story for another night…

 _Are you still awake? Okay, I'll continue…_

During one of his missions, out hero was attacked by a perfectly trained and surprisingly strong soldier. An assassin so effective that he was considered a myth. While they were fighting the hero realized his opponent was, in fact, his long-lost brother who he presumed dead. But the soldier didn't recognize him. It turned out that after he fell down, he was saved by evil people – just to turn him into a living weapon, perfectly deadly and obedient. One of his hands, lost after his accident, was replaced by a metal one. He was tortured and trained for many years so he would stop being himself and become their perfect puppet. But they underestimated the brothers' love, for in the final battle the soldier couldn't bring himself to kill the hero. He saved him then and disappeared, so he could find out who he really was and what was he supposed to do.

That was when the great king T'Challa met the hero and the soldier. You remember him? He ruled this land when your grandfather was still a little boy. You surely have heard a lot of stories about him… He was a great and kind leader. When he first met them, the great king's father was just killed and the bad people who had done it made everyone believe it was the soldier's doing. So the king decided to find him and bring him to justice, thinking he was the one to blame for the old king's death. But the hero knew his friend well and couldn't believe that he could have done it. He found his brother and tried to help him. As it turned out, the bad people still could turn the soldier into their puppet. Fortunately, the good king understood that the soldier is just a victim, not the real foe. When the enemy was finally defeated, he offered shelter to the brothers and promised to do whatever he could to release the soldier from the bad people's influence once and for all. But to do so, the brothers had to be separated again.

The hero and a few of his friends continued fighting for the humanity's safety and the soldier was slowly recovering. But that was when the darkest days in all of the Earth's history came. All the heroes and people of Wakanda joined their forces against the worst of enemies, Thanos. Thanos was the Mad Titan, who wanted to get unlimited power and control, as he believed himself to be the only one to save the universe. But he wanted to save it by killing thousands and billions of people. Ready to fight the evil and destruction, the brothers reunited to face the new enemy together, stronger than ever. They fought side by side just like they used to, having each other's back and protecting all the humanity.

But sometimes life isn't fair. The fate didn't let the brothers be together for more than just a while. Thanos managed to get more power than any man should ever have. He used it to kill half of the world with just a snap of his fingers. That day a lot of good people of Wakanda died. Everyone lost someone close to them and wailing filled the air for many days. The good king was gone, trying to save his people to his last moments. The throne was left to his younger sister, who had to pick up the pieces of a destroyed kingdom and rule in such hard times. And the soldier died as well, turning into dust in front of his brother, who was forced to watch him die all over again. And that time he knew there was no coming back.

You're crying… I know. It's so sad and not fair. Sometimes it seems the evil is winning. But don't you cry! In the end, Thanos was defeated. All the heroes who survived that day joined their forces and took away Thanos' terrible power. And though the deaths were irreversible, with passing time people learned to live, love and laugh again.

Still, that day the hero lost a piece of his soul, a person who was closest to him, his brother. He couldn't even bury his best friend, so he decided to plant a tree in the place he had died. It was a plum tree, the very first in all the Wakanda. It grew big and strong, offering shadow and peace to all wayfarers seeking rest. And the hero spent the rest of his life offering his great heart and all he could to simple people, defending them, helping them rebuild the world from pieces, and teaching them love and kindness. When he had to, he fought to protect the humanity all around the world, but Wakanda became his beloved place and here he spent most of his days, surrounded by a loving folk. And when his life came to an end, the people of Wakanda buried him under the plum tree, the only one in the whole country. And that spring was the first time the tree blossomed, when the brothers met again in the afterlife, never to be separated again. And for as long as I remember, even in the hardest times, the tree blossoms and bears fruit assuring nobody suffers hunger around it. Because even after death the brothers care for everyone and together they are so much stronger than separately.

 _Now sleep… And dream of the hero and the soldier; the brothers who were willing to sacrifice everything they had for you and me to live in the world they could only dream of. Goodnight..._


End file.
